Did Lent sneak up on you? Here are some tips.
Blessed waning Carnevale (the correct spelling, as it translates as “Meat, goodbye” carne vale). As such, it is a Catholic celebration when properly observed, and it lasts for weeks, not just one day. Alas, most of us no longer really say goodbye to meat/eggs/butter for all of Lent, as used to be required of all the faithful. Being a Keto/no carbs person for over 20 years, I am thankful for that.
Another thing that used to be required was actual fasting. As in, days with zero food. If you have never done it, you really should. It’s not even hard, especially when there are only two days when it is currently required. Examine your conscience; do you really think fasting means three meals a day, as the current discipline suggests?
Zero. Just do it. Once you’ve done it once, you will actually look forward to it. Come back and call me a liar if I’m wrong.
It would be different if it were multiple days or weeks in a row of course, in which case some sustenance would be needed. But for ONE day, come on. Zero calories, folks. Water, coffee, and no-calorie electrolytes are okay. It really is a fine way to start off towards your Lenten goals. Note well, those latter two things DO violate the Eucharistic Fast, which allows only water to be taken.
Speaking of goals, commit to them in writing. Post them on your fridge or some other prominent place. Here are some things that have been going through my head:
Commit to a limited number of things you will practice DAILY. Needless to say, this starts with the Rosary. If you can commit to daily Mass, it is highly recommended. Daily Mass in the TLM is really special during Lent, because each day has its own proper Mass, every single day of Lent. It is like being on a journey. Rosary and Mass, and we are now committed to one hour per day.
Now stop. Before you go further, do NOT attempt to take on the workload of a cloistered religious. You will fail, probably by the end of the week, get really discouraged, and be off to a rotten Lent. Instead, start small, and add things if you are able. Make your list aspirational, for sure, but start out smaller.
What about other structured prayer? Last year I did Benedictus and Divine Intimacy every day. This year I am moving mental prayer up the priority list, putting Adoration first. If you have never sat in quiet conversation with our Lord, or if it has been a long time, maybe try to get back to it. 15 minutes after Mass is a good place to start, but getting the solid hour once a week is where the heavy lifting gets done. The most effective way to do this is attempt to converse for the first 30 minutes, then shut up and listen for the next 30. He speaks in whispers.
Next on my list are books. How big is that stack of books you ordered, but haven’t read yet? It’s embarrassing. Constantly confessing wasting too much time on the internet, yet that stack hasn’t gotten any smaller. I am doing something about that this Lent.
There are still a few hours left, and I still have a few more things I’m mulling. Leave your best ideas in the combox!
Two more resources on fasting HERE and HERE.
Blessed Lent, everyone.
Orthodox Lent began Sunday evening, and by comparison it makes pre-V2 Lent look like gluttony. No meat, eggs, dairy or fish, with olive oil and wine only on Sundays.
Marathon Father Mike Schmidt’s Bible in a Year. Three episodes daily. (Frank Walker calls him “floaty”. Does anyone know why?)
Give up on-line Words With Friends which can be very time consuming.
Learn a few new prayers the first of which is to Our Lord’s Sacred Shoulder Wound. Great to say with the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery.
Stations of the Cross meditation every Friday in a church if possible.
choosing handle of “Shriven Maid” – now THAT is virtue-signalling 😉 Literally.
Here is that beautiful prayer:
‘”O Loving Jesus, Meek Lamb of God, I, a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy Flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross, to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen.”
The modern version of the prayer bears the imprimatur of Bishop Thomas D. Bevan,[5] who was bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts from 1875 to 1920mb g
I know we all know this but whatever we do fasting-wise during Lent, we’ve got it easy.
From J.F.Quinn’s ‘History of Mayo’ –
The Great Hunger – Famine in Ireland 1845-1849
The following comment was made by a Protestant couple: “It was impossible not to appreciate the magnanimity of the poor, miserable, utterly destitute and absolutely starving inhabitants of Achill, who were at the time of our visit enduring privations at which humanity shudders and to know that by walking a couple of miles and professing to change their religion they would have been instantly supplied with food, clothes and lodging. Yet these hungry thousands – for it would be scarcely an exaggeration to say that nine-tenths of the population of this island were in the month of July last entirely without food – preferred patiently to endure their suffering rather than to submit to what they considered a degradation. Such fortitude we do believe to be without parallel in the history of any people since the creation of the world.”
How ashamed those determined souls must be that so many of their descendants have abandoned the Faith of their Fathers that cost them so much to maintain…and for what? A return to the spiritual destitution of paganism or even outright atheism. God have mercy on Ireland. ☘️
Absolutely. Those who renounced the Faith were called ‘Soupers’ because the food they’d be given in return was invariably a bowl of soup. The huge numbers who have done the same in recent decades in Ireland didn’t even get a can of chicken noodle in return.
They got a third world invasion with all the pleasantries for free. I can’t help but see God’s wrathful justice for their faithlessness (and the vote for abortion) in the destruction that is now taking place. 🙏
The first to honor the Shoulder Wound of Jesus was St Bernard of Clairveaux who died in 1153. In a private revelation Jesus told him this:
“i had on My Shoulder while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound which was more painful than the others, and which is not recorded by men. Honor this Wound with thy devotion, and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through its virtue and merit. And in regard to all those who shall venerate this Wound, I will remit to them all their venial sins, and will no longer remember their mortal sins.”
Padre Pio had a shoulder wound as part of his stigmata. He told JP II, who visited as a priest, that it was his most painful stigmata.